some final thoughts about the journey

Some final thoughts about the journey
It is going to take me a while to process this. It certainly was a physical challenge at least to start, but once we got in reasonable shape (got our legs under us) and especially after we got the car and were not loaded down that was not the hardest part. Physically we were able to do it. Mountain passes were hard but they were also expected and you could get in a groove and just do it. Rolling hills were a little more difficult because they were unexpected and we couldn't always get our momentum going to get a good pace going up the hill.

I think the hard part was just the day to day of being on the road for that length of time. We were kind of like a slow train coming. We tried to keep the costs down, and found ourselves at McDonald's a lot because we knew they had free wifi and value meals. Every second or third day we sought out a place for a shower, a YMCA, community pool, campground/RV park, usually fit the bill. We tried to stay as cheaply as possible.  I think we had about 8 or 10 motel nights, about 15 nights with family or friends (I didn't realize it was that much until I added it in my head) about half of those were in Vancouver, WA with Marcee's Brother's family or in Ann Arbor at my Mom's house.

As much as I enjoy eating out we both longed for a break from it, especially fast food because of the "value meals" they offer. I know that I ate way too many french fries and ice cream and even Snickers bars. I maintained my weight because I usually biked about 3-4 hours a day but I know that I will have to watch what I eat a little closer.

I think that our favorite roads to ride were the ones with little traffic, good surfaces, and wide shoulders. Little traffic and wide shoulders don't usually go together, you get one or the other usually. The toughest conditions were small shoulders and heavier traffic. That is what made the first part of the journey tough because Highway 30 in Oregon seemed that way. Also, riding Adventure Cycling Routes (ACA) in the west may require riding on Interstate shoulders. Some people do not mind that because you have almost a full lane to yourself we chose to avoid or skip those sections. We found ourselves asking a lot of folks about road conditions and traffic especially when we made our own route which was most of ND, parts of MI, Eastern NY, all of VT, NH and ME. You have to judge for yourself though and we tended to weigh the opinion of bike shop employees a little more than other folks.

Technologically I never really got an efficient system down and I apologize that I never posted pictures for some days that I said I would. Please forgive me.  It was great to have the free use of wifi at McDonalds but my computer is slow and it took a while for the pictures to load.  That is one thing I would want to research further if ever doing something like this again.  The ACA maps were helpful, having a GPS or smart phone with a GPS would have been useful.

It seems like forever since we were dropping off our cats in Utah and loading up our bikes for a test run a couple of days before we drove out to Vancouver, Washington to start our trip at Seaside. The first time we did that our rear panniers and B.O.B trailers were fully loaded and we could barely even balance the bikes. It is comical to look back at! We took another day to prep and got rid of an "apple" box" worth of stuff.

It was fun and invigorating to talk to other touring cyclists on the road. We saw a lot through Montana. After that I remember seeing a couple on the same day in Michigan (within 5 minutes of each other), one in Minnesota, one in Vermont and one on our last day as we were entering Bar Harbor. That is what I remember there were probably more.

One thing I learned pretty quickly is the value of having a business card, especially when you are fund raising. Since most conversations and contacts with people were short it gave people something tangible to have so they could look up our blog or the Life Outreach ministry online if they wanted to. After getting the cards in North Dakota (sent to Diane's parent's house!) we did start getting some cash donations on the spot. If you would like to explore other touring cyclists journals I would encourage you to check out http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/.

I did learn something important about giving that God touched my heart with and that is the importance of cheerful giving (2 Corinthians 9:7). About a month ago we started putting $1 a day in an envelope to give to the Water for Life ministry. Each time I did that I said to myself that I wanted to bless someone or give someone fresh clean water. That was usually about it. It blessed me in doing that! It certainly would be easier to give $30 once a month, but the discipline of doing that allowed me to pray and bless someone 30 times and tangibly care in my giving 30 times rather than just once. Being intentional is important to me. God Loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).

We answered the what if question for ourselves.  "What if we bicycled across country?"  The way we did it with a car, taking turns riding and driving and skipping a few miles by driving worked for us.  It made the trip doable, given our inexperience as cyclists.  Physically it was a lot easier because we were usually doing about half the miles you would do by yourself.  We figured out the driving thing so that it was not so tedious.

Once again, thank you to everyone who helped us along the way, God, family, friends, strangers, bike shop employees/mechanics, Life Outreach International...  Your encouragement, kindness and support were much needed and very much appreciated!  Thank you for all of your donations to water for life, if makes a difference in people's lives!

Larry and Marcee Reitbauer

We plan to wrap up the blog in th next week with some final thoughts.

September 16 - day 83 Friday

September 16 - day 83 Friday
Start - Ellsworth, Maine
End - Bar Harbor, Maine
Miles - 22 (Larry 22.5, Marcee 22.6)
Total approximate miles for the trip - 4006 (Larry 2306, Marcee 1706)
Start time - 930am
End time - 100pm
Miles driven not ridden - none

We made it!  Bar Harbor!  Wow!  Thank you Jesus for your word, guidance and protection!  Thank you to everyone who supported us, family, friends, strangers, bike shop owners/mechanics, fellow touring cyclists.  Your words of encouragement, help with logistics, support meant a lot to us and made it possible for us to complete this journey!  Here are some photos from "touch down" in Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.

Geared up in Ellsworth, ready for the final run to Bar Harbor!

The road down to the Town Pier and beach!

We made it! 

With Mom at Bar Harbor

From the park in front of the harbor

Photos from Acadia National Park including sunrise on Cadillac Mountain on September 17.

September 15 - day 82 Thursday

September 15 - day 82 Thursday

This ended up being a rest day.  The weather was foggy to start out the day and rain was in the forecast for the afternoon with sunshine in the forecast for Friday.  We decided to take it easy and sightsee.  We drove around the Winter Harbor area and the Schootic Peninsula during the day and then got to visit with Debbie and Max Merrill.  They treated us to dinner at Pat's Pizza in Ellsworth, about 22 miles west of Bar Harbor.  Thank you Debbie and Max and it was great to visit with you!

Dinner with Debbie and Max Merrill

Marcee took this picture out the window as we were sightseeing

We are taking a rest day today will finish tomorrow (Friday)

September 14 - day 81 Wednesday

September 14 - day 81 WednesdayStart - Carmel, Maine
End - Ellsworth, Maine
Miles - 28.92 (Larry 28.92, Marcee 21.6 we rode together the last part of the day)
Start time - 1000am
End time - 420pm

One more day, 19.5 miles and we will be in Bar Harbor!  Mom flew into Bangor today so that we could ride together for the last two days.  Thank you Mom!  We are spending tonight at the Vacationland Inn in Brewer, Maine just outside of Bangor.  Yesterday we stopped in to ask questions and shared our card.  Our card made its way to the local radio station and I had the opportunity to do a radio interview and share about our journey and raising money through Life Outreach International to drill water wells.

Not many pictures today, more tomorrow.

September 13 - day 80 Tuesday

September 13 - day 80 Tuesday
Start - Farmington, Maine
End - Carmel, Maine
Miles - 62 (Larry 31.24, Marcee 30.94)
Start time - 1025am
End time - 608pm
Miles driven not ridden about 8

A good day of riding after a good night's rest at the Mount Blue Motel in Farmington. Good folks to chat with along the way today. Thank you for your interest it is encouraging!

Today we did ot take many breaks, just short ones and a short lunch. The day was beautiful in the high 70s, low 80s with the humidity it was hot though. We continued on route 2 through towns like New Sharon, Skowhagen, Palmyra, and Newport. Traffic was steady but the shoulders were mostly wide so it was fine. The shoulder east of Newport was thin but so was traffic as the route paralleled interstate 95.

Marcee got bit by some kind of bug on her forehead. She thought it was a bee at first but probably wasn't. It was scary as she threw her helmet off and drifted into the lane fortunately nothing was coming.

Tomorrow my Mom is flying into Bangor and she was drive the car with us to Bar Harbor so we can both ride into Bar Harbor probably Thursday morning!

Photos from the day:

September 12 - day 79 Monday

September 12 - day 79 Monday
Start - Maine border on Route 2 east of Bethel
End - Near Farmington, Maine just south of Route 2
Miles - 56 (Larry 31.0, Marcee 25.0)
Start time - 940am
End time - 530pm
Miles driven not ridden about 5

We stayed in Gorham, NH and started off the day with breakfast at Welsh's which was established in 1898.  The owner back in the 1980's had a sports card shop and there was a lot of old baseball memorabila photographs and autographs.  I found it interesting since I followed sports growing up in New York. There was an old ad for "Larraping" Lou Gehrig promoting Camel cigarettes.  There was a picture of about 10 living members of the 500 home run club autographed by each one (Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Frank Robinson, Killebrew, Reggie Jackson) are the ones I can remember.  Breakfast was good too!

After breakfast we drove to the Maine border and I got on the bike after our morning routine of getting the bike down, loading panniers and noodle, putting on triangle on the rider and on the car, prayer and reading scripture, putting on our odometers and heading out.  Our first stop for the day was at Bethel Bicycle where we visited with Peter and Gary and got our tires topped off. Thank you!

Route 2 so far has been good to ride with wide shoulders except through Rumford and Mexico where the shoulders were minimal and the traffic was more concentrated.  We plan to continue on Route 2 into Bangor and then head southeast to Bar Harbor.  Thursday is our ETA.

The terrain was up and down as we traveled in the Maine Lakes and Mountains Region.  Tomorrow we anticipate getting to somewhere between Newport and Bangor.

September 11 - day 78 Sunday

September 11 - day 78 SundayStart - Lancaster, NH
End - Maine State Line on Route 2
Miles - 35 (Larry 16.7, Marcee 19.2)
Start Time - 1118am
End Time - 415pm

Maine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We made it to our 12th and final state.  When Marcee crossed over into Maine she raised her hands in the air.  It is so exciting to enter Maine!  Just three or four days to Bar Harbor.

After staying in Gorham we drove about 20 miles to Jefferson, NH to go to the Jefferson Christian Church.  We really appreciated the warm reception from Pastor Dean Stiles and from the congregation after the services.  Dressed in our biking gear for the day, including our Yellow Water for Life shirts we really stood out.  Thank you Pastor Dean for allowing us to share about our trip during the announcements and for your prayers for us.  Thank you to all who took time to visit with us, Margaret , Kim, Mike Ruth Walker (that was my Grandmother's name), Dan and Joan.  Thank you to Tom and Polly for your donations.  God is good as he has provided opportunities both here in New Hampshire and last Sunday in Fulton, New York without me doing anything in advance to set things up.  Thank you Lord!

After we entered Maine we loaded the bikes and drove back into New Hampshire.  We drove up the Mt. Washington Auto Road.  The elevation at the base is around 1600 and at the Summit is 6288 so that is a pretty good elevation rise.  We drove in low gear the whole time up and down.  The road was narrow and without guard rails so it was a bit nervewracking at points especially near the top above tree line.  They closed the road up the hill at 530 PM so when we started down at 605PM we had the whole width of the road.  Here are some pictures:

Other photos from the day:

September 10 - day 77 Saturday

September 10 - day 77 Saturday
Start - Morrisville, VT
End - Lancaster, NH
Miles - 59 (Larry 32.03, Marcee 27.69
Start time - 930am
End time - 730pm
Miles driven not ridden - about 8

It was a beautiful day for riding today!  Cool temperatures, sunny skies, beautiful scenery including the Green Mountains of Vermont.  The leaves are starting to turn.  Highway 15 had moderate traffic as did Highway 2 in the Eastern part of Vermont. 

I met a touring cyclist today in Danville, VT - Joe, who left New York City in early June and had traveled into Canada and now was swinging back through Vermont to visit friends and then back to New York.  I got several comments on my yellow shirt today - one woman said she loved it and another that she thought I was working construction. 

The only blip today was taking a wrong turn using my homemade directions around St. Johnsbury.  We found ourselves about 7 miles off course and then drove on ahead a little past Conway, Vermont.

 Nice scenery along the backroads of Vermont!

This is the last remaining Railroad covered bridge in Vermont "Fisher Bridge" in Wolcott, Vermont.

To end the day we followed the Connecticut river.  It was dusk and the White Mountains to the East had a pinkish hue above them which was reflected in the river.  It was beautiful even though it was a little bit late to finish the day.  It was exciting to enter our 11th state!

September 9 - day 76 Friday

September 9 - day 76 FridayStart - Essex Junction, VT
End - Morrisville, VT
Miles - 43 (Larry 25.66, Marcee 18.12)
Start time - 2pm
End time - 7pm
Miles driven about 15


After spending the night at Scott and Jenn's house in Moretown we went to the Red Hen bakery in town and plotted our route.  We decided to follow route 15 to start which is further north in the state than route 2 and we hoped would have lighter traffic.  It has been difficult.  Adventure Cycling routes through Vermont have detours now because of the flooding from Hurricane Irene.  Because of this we have kept our route north.  The challenge is finding roads that work well to ride and are not too heavily trafficked.  Route 15 was busy, shoulders were decent, drivers were very courteous and gave us room and generally were not driving too fast.  We learned about one loop around route 15 from Jake at the Ski Rack in Burlington.  It was Pleasant Valley road and it was a nice break.  It was a quiet backcountry road through farmland.  A little after 7pm we pulled up to the Sunset Motor Inn in Morrisville and got a room for the night.  It was more than we wanted to spend but we did not want to drive for miles and then double back.

About the flooding in Vermont - Scott shared how his community was really impacted with the flooding. He said that the flash flood came up very quickly and although their house was not impacted they had about 19 people staying at their house during the flood. On a positive side he said that the way the community has come together has been inspiring.

September 8 - day 75 Thursday

September 8 - day 75 ThursdayStart - Alder Bend Road Near Ellenburg, NY
End - Burlington, VT
Miles - 33 (Larry 17.37, Marcee 15.84)
Start time - 940am
End time - 125pm
Miles driven not ridden about 7

Today was a short day and we got a late start but it was a good day.  We entered our 10th state Vermont - only 2 to go.  As we have been doing for several days now we using GoogleMaps to create our own backroads route from Ellenburg to Port Kent just south of Plattsburgh.  It worked well.  It kept us off of 190 Military Highway, which has wide shoulders but lots of traffic plus truck traffic.  We had plans to catch the Port Kent ferry and we did but we just made the 125pm ferry by minutes.  It was pretty cool because we did not know how far we had to go to get to the ferry and I pedaled as fast as I could.   Coming down the hill along Lakeside drive and seeing Lake Champlain was cool.

The ferry ride was about 1 hour long.  When we got to Burlington we stopped in for some biking information at the Ski Rack and at the Non-profit group called Local Motion.   There help with maps and talking through possible routes through Vermont was helpful.  Thank you!

That evening we drove to Moretown, VT to visit my college roommate Scott Mead along with his wife Jenn and their two daughters.  It was great to catch up after about 9 or 10 years.  We were treated to pizza and stayed overnight.  Thank you Scott and Jenn.  Ciara thank you for your donation to Water for Life!

Valcour ferry.

September 7 - day 74 Wednesday

September 7 - day 74 WednesdayStart - Near Potsdam, NY
End - Ellenburg, NY
Miles 67 (Larry 36.61, Marcee 30.91)
Start time - 846am
End time - 600pm

Another day of riding in Northeastern New York.  Amish wagons like the one pictured above were common.  It rained in the morning but cleared up in the afternoon. 

We found ourselves on a dirt road for about 2.5 miles.  It helped that a motorist stopped and told us how long the dirt road lasted and the condition of the road. It was nice that traffic was minimal.

We found ourselves entering the Adirondacks.

In the evening we made our way to the YMCA in Plattsburgh for a shower!  The staff was very helpful with information and even printed out directions - thank you!  Unfortunately this was the point we realized that our shutter on our camera was jammed and would not open completely.  We hope we can get it fixed.

September 6 day 73 - Tuesday

September 6 - day 73 Tuesday
Start - near Harrisville, NY
End - about 7 miles south of Potsdam, NY
Miles 46 (Larry 21.7, Marcee 24.7)
Start time - 849am
End time - 325pm
Miles driven not ridden about .1

After staying in Watertown again last night we drove to the area where we stopped yesterday. Once again the weather was cool in the 50s and it was misting in the air. A welcome relief from the humidity! By the afternoon weather had dried up and warmed into the sixties. The route was mostly on county road 24. It was a backroad, up and down and lightly traveled. We changed our plans to take this route once we spoke to Craig, Karen and Michelle at the grocery store in Edwards. Thank you for the information and the snowmobile map. It served us well!

We stopped cycling early today so that we could get some maintenance done on Marcee's bike. Ted at the Tread Mill bike shop in Potsdam took good care of us. Thank you Ted!

One more full day in New York and then we will enter Vermont! Getting closer!

We appreciate all of your prayers, encouragement and support as it challenging.

September 5 - day 72 Monday

September 5 - day 72 Monday
Start - Adams Center, NY
End - Near Harrisville, NY intersection of 3 and 812
Miles - 43 (Larry 23.1, Marcee 20.6)
Start - 1200pm
End - 617pm
Miles driven not ridden - about 1

Today was rainy and cool.  When we finished the day it was 61 degrees.  It was a nice break from the humidity.  In our efforts to stay on secondary slower roads yesterday I used Google Maps in the motel to route us on quieter roads east of Watertown, NY and then north.  We did not make it too far north but we did make it east.  The routing worked well for the most part.  I realized that we were counting on roads to be signed and that was the case in most cases.  Fortunately we had some help from strangers as well.  The terrain was a little bit hilly but not too bad and it tended to be long enough so that we could get momentum to get back up the hill.  The condition of the roads was great, blacktop with little traffic and towards the end of the day on route 3 where the traffic picked up the shoulders were comfortably wide.

Since we had a motel night last night and slept in we got a bit of a late start.  In the next couple of days we will be heading toward Potsdam and Malone New York before heading across Lake Champlain into Vermont.

September 4 - day 71 Sunday

September 4 - day 71 SundayStart - Sterling, NY
End - Adams Center, NY
Miles - 62 (Larry 31.97, Marcee 30.10)
Start time - 825am
End time - 530pm
Miles driven not ridden - 1

We got an earlier start this morning in Sterling.  Marcee rode to Fulton and then we went to church at the Believer's Chapel in Fulton.  Thank you to everyone who made us feel welcome, including Pastor Brian, and for allowing us to share about our bicycle adventure! Thank you to Norine and Pat for your donations.

After church we headed north.  We decided to travel north of the ACA route through the Adironacks of New York in hope of crossing Vermont and New Hampsire to the north of the states where flooding from Hurricane Irene was not as severe as the center of Vermont.  We traveled along NY route 3 which is the Seaway route and is popular with cyclists.  We found the traffic to be heavier than we liked so we headed inland a little bit and traveled up CR 11directly toward Watertown NY which turned out to be better for riding.

Weather forecast is calling for heavy storms tonight and into tomorrow. We have a motel in Watertown yay!

September 3 - day 70 Saturday

September 3 - day 70 SaturdayStart - Palmyra, NY
End - Sterling, NY
Miles - 51 (Larry 20.92, Marcee 30.59)
Start time - 1120am
End time - 703pm
Miles driven not ridden - 0

We spent several hours in the morning at Panera Bread having breakfast and figuring out our route.  Our route took us to Lake Ontario and we spent a little time at Sodus Point dipping our feet in the fifth of the Great Lakes.  Riding was pretty uneventful, lots of farm land including apple orchards.  Our Rocky Mount Bike rack was missing a wing nut so we took a little time getting that taken care of.  We lost our noodle for a time today as well.  It fell off of the bike and Marcee had to drive back and find it.  We have come across a lot of animals. Today we were visited by a friendly cat.